Cafe World Challenge Week 36

Another delicious dish was made this week, I opted to make a nontraditional Tempura Udon, a westernized version with eastern flavours.

'TEMPURA UDON'

Traditionally Udon is served with a dashi, soy sauce and mirin broth. Since I didn't have dashi or mirin and really didn't want to go out and buy ingredients again that I'd hardly use so I opted for a different type of broth. My eldest son is also sensitive to certain seafood ingredients so I would prefer to avoid anything that could upset his tummy.

Since I've never made Tempura before and am not very good at deep frying, I bought a Tempura mix for the shrimp topping the Udon soup. I also thought that the traditional recipes lacked vegetables and as I was making the soup as a main dish, I added some.

Udon - Jen style

Broth:

1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
3 1/2 Tbsp tamari soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger chopped
2 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp sugar

In a blender puree the broth ingredients till smooth.

1 package (200g) Udon noodles (I used instant)
2 tsp olive oil
About 4 oz shitake mushrooms, stems removed and cut in thirds.
1/4 lb (125 g) snow peas, ends trimmed
1 tsp tamari soy sauce
1 bunch (6) green onions chopped
fresh cilantro to garnish

Cook Udon noodles according to package instructions. Mine asked for 1/2 litre water and this served as the basis for the broth.

In a frying pan, heat oil on high and add mushrooms, sauteing for 2 minutes. Add snow peas and tamari and stir-fry for a further 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add green onions.

Add vegetables and broth ingredients to cooked noodles and water. Heat through. Serve with a sprinkling of cilantro and tempura shrimp.


This recipe produces a very flavourful broth, dilute further with water to your taste. Any of the broth ingredients can be removed according to your likes/ dislikes.
I personally didn't like the idea of my nice crispy tempura floating on soup and getting mushy, so I just took the photo and plated them separately. I like this meal because my husband and I can have the shrimp which we love and keep it separate from the soup, so my sons just eat the soup and still get a full meal and avoid what they can't eat.

Up Next: I've been looking at recipes for Escargot, I thought I'd look for some at the store and make it for my husband. Otherwise I'm making Philly cheesesteak tonight, Yum!!!

Progress:  64/83

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Cafe World Challenge Week 27

I made some shrimp cocktail this week with the flavours of an old favourite from South Africa.

When my husband & I were dating, his idea of romance was serving me shrimp cocktail and then strawberries for dessert. I had told him how much I liked shrimp or prawns, as I'd have called them then. But my idea of prawns was grilled in lemon butter with the shells intact and served on a bed of rice. I was not really expecting ice cold prawns with a horseradish cocktail sauce. But of course I ate as many as was polite. I still never touch the shrimp at a function, it just doesn't appeal to me. Back in South Africa, we called the bigger sea bugs prawns and the little mini things are shrimp. Therefore shrimp cocktail is little mini shrimp mixed with our version of cocktail sauce and served in a cocktail glass on a bed of lettuce. But my favourite version of this idea is what is called Avocado Ritz, which is a halved avocado with the shrimp cocktail filling and topping it. It is totally delicious.

So I thought if I had to eat cold shrimp (prawns), I'll make the version of cocktail sauce I preferred. My husband of course was very skeptical, but ended up really liking it.



Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail

The cocktail sauce I made is a version of the type you'd find in South Africa or I suppose also Britain and other parts of the world, as much of the food back home is of British influence. In its basic form, it is mayonnaise with ketchup (tomato sauce in SA). I wanted mine to be a little tangy so this is my version:

Cocktail Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Salad Cream English Dressing (Heinz sells a version in North America)
2 tbsp whipping cream
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp lemon juice
a dash of hot sauce

Mix all the ingredients to form a smooth pink sauce.

Serve with shrimp on a bed of lettuce and sprinkle with paprika. The sauce is also good as a creamy salad dressing on that bed of lettuce when the shrimp is done.



Cafe World Cookbook Additions

I unlocked the Rack of Lamb in the game and they also added Tempura Udon.

Up Next: I have some rack of lamb in the fridge

Progress: 51/80

Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property

Cafe World Challenge Week 23

This week was a one pan dish of awesomeness (yes I know that's not a word). I made Paella, but with a twist.



Seafood Paella

I've been watching the Martha Stewart show archives on the Internet. The shows are broken onto the segments, it's great because I can watch the segments that interest me and skip the others. I found her show on her South African visit interesting and she made one of my South African favourites, Bobotie, I suppose I should make it and post the recipe sometime. Martha's version is a bit different to mine though. Okay so I digressed a little, in my wanderings and watchings on her site I came across the video and recipe for Mexican Paella (click the photo for the video).

The Mexican elements are the poblano pepper, fire roasted canned tomato and Mexican chorizo sausage. The traditional Spanish version would have dry cured chorizo sausage and saffron. I had difficulty finding poblano pepper and fire roasted canned tomato, so instead I used canned chipotle peppers with some of the sauce washed off and regular canned tomatoes. The chipotle peppers added a bit more heat than the milder poblanos would have, but they gave the smoky fire-roasted taste. I could also not find Mexican chorizo, so I used regular Spanish dry chorizo. I used large green New Zealand mussels and they were great too. Oh and I didn't want to buy a whole bottle of tequila for just two tablespoons, so that didn't go in either, and NO I wouldn't drink the rest, my tequila days are long gone.

The resulting fusion of flavour was perfect......give it a try!!!!




Up next: I thought I'd put together some Fish Tacos.

Progress: 46/76


Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property

Cafe World Challenge Week 19

I finally made the lobster, I've been planning this for 6 weeks, but since I didn't want the shells in the garbage in this heat, it left me with one day in the week it could be made. The stars and our schedule finally aligned. I also made a yummy chicken recipe this week.

I'm also making corned beef from scratch. My husband thinks I'm crazy, but I had a brisket to use and I would've needed to specially order corned beef and it doesn't come cheap. So my fridge has a big crock pot with a hunk of meat brining, unfortunately my whole fridge now also smells of the garlic in the brine. The meat should be done in 2.5 weeks and I'll cook it up then. I'll share the brining process in another post.

I also have my sushi class coming up next week, which also includes other Japanese cuisine. Mmmm should be good.






Lemon Butter Lobster

I took my son shopping for the lobsters and he had a blast, the lady at the seafood counter was a little grouchy, so didn't appreciate my 4 year old telling her the ins and outs of lobsters. He gets a "Lobstering" DVD from the library at least once a month and has all the info stored in his little, yet huge, brain. Unfortunately he has a seafood sensitivity so couldn't eat any, but he did get to choose the alternative and was happy with pizza.

When it came to actually putting the lobsters in the boiling water, I left that to my hubbie, not that I'm squeamish about doing it, but I didn't trust myself with wriggling things with big claws and boiling water. I have some rather serious clumsiness issues.

I can't remember how long I cooked the bugs, maybe 5-7 minutes, but they turned out just great.

I'll share the recipe for the Lemon Butter dipping sauce, which is great with all forms of seafood or fish, but not so great for the figure.

Lemon Garlic Butter for Seafood

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
5 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt
fresh parsley

Melt the butter, add the garlic and lightly saute. Squeeze in the lemon juice and add the olive oil. Turn the heat to low and simmer until the lobster is ready. Add salt to taste and chopped fresh parsley. I serve mine in a little ramekin for dipping, but it would also work for baking fish or seafood.




BBQ Chicken

I saw this recipe in an email from Kraft Kitchens and since I had some of their BBQ sauce in the fridge, I tried it out. I grilled mine in the oven since we don't own a barbecue (not my decision) and it turned out great. The flavour was awesome and the chicken was tender. I think I also did a good job of jointing a whole chicken. That was kinda fun!!!

Find the recipe here.



Cafe World Cookbook Changes

Super Sliders are out.....Vegetarian Tamales are in.

Up Next: Sushi Class and Beef still corning.

Progress: 38/71

Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property

Cafe World Challenge Week 12

I spent my long weekend trying to recover from a throat infection, so I was in no mood for major cooking, but I did cuddle up with my little boys and watch some Food Network, which I haven't done in months. That is, both watching Food Network and actually get to watch something of mine with my sons in the same room. They usually moan too much about wanting to watch their shows that it's pretty pointless attempting to watch anything myself. But this weekend was different, I had one with his head on my lap and the other snuggled against my side and they watched in silence, I wished I'd gotten a photo, a rare peaceful moment!!!

So anyways...I saw an episode of Bob Blumer's Glutton for Punishment and he was learning to make dim sum dumplings from the masters and it seemed really difficult. So I thought I'd prepare some Shu Mai Dumplings while fresh with the tips I picked up from the show.




Shu Mai Dumplings

As it turned out, Shu Mai dumplings are open ended and are not as difficult to construct as those I saw on the show. I also found that there are ready-made dumpling wrappers, so I didn't need to make the pastry.

I used this recipe from myrecipes.com. It was pretty simple, with standard (for me) ingredients. When I went to the oriental food market, the guy there was very uncertain about me making my own dumplings and kept on trying to sell me the prepared frozen ones, but since I bought the dumpling wrappers and a bamboo steamer and new chopsticks, I think he made a better sale.

I think they turned out pretty okay looking, not perfect, but none fell apart and they were easy to eat. They tasted absolutely FAN-frikken-TASTIC, I'm still salivating about that meal 24 hours later. I think the ginger and green onion were the essentials for the taste. These dumplings had pork and shrimp, but I saw different recipes with just pork, just shrimp and some with mushroom and other veggies too. I even saw tofu and eggplant versions.

I was really intimidated at first, but I'm really glad I discovered this dish...this recipe is definitely a keeper and will be made again and again.





New Cafe World dish

Another favourite has been added earlier in the week: Philly Cheesesteak
Late last night I came across two new ones, Angel Fruit Cake and Spicy Devil Eggs. I wish they'd introduced this last week, so I could have included the Devilled Eggs I made then, oh well it's very easy and I'll do them again soon.

Progress: 27/65

Next Up: If I can find some, I'll get some Lobster.

* Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property.

Cafe World Challenge Week 10

I made my crab bisque as planned, didn't get to the caramel apples I planned, but made one of my two usual quiche recipes and only realised I could include it in the challenge when it was in the oven. So another two dishes done.



King Crab Bisque

I love making soups and will usually make a chowder if I'm using seafood. I googled that the difference between the two is supposed to be the texture. Bisque is smooth and creamy, whereas chowder is chunky. The Cafe World recipe also has potato which reminds me more of chowder, so I decided I'd use my regular chowder recipe and just give it a good whizz to make it smooth. After this experiment, I admit I prefer it chunky like chowder. Reflecting afterwards I also thought that perhaps the colour wasn't right either, aren't bisque's usually redder. With the herbs liquidized in the otherwise white soup, it had a green tint. Well whatever, it tasted okay.

I also did a cheat for this and instead of using fresh crab, I used good quality canned chunk crab. I really didn't need the extra work!!!

Just a note too on the other ingredients and quantities. I change this recipe every time I use it. I usually use haddock or some other fish and usually use leeks. My area seems to have a leek shortage right now, there were none at the 2 store I checked, so I used 1 onion and the 4 spring onions I had left in the fridge. I also sometimes add carrot to my leek, it just depends on what I have on hand. In other words, use what you have or like, that simple!!!

Recipe

1/2 stick butter (50g)
4 leeks washed and thinly sliced or 1 onion and 4 green/spring onions.
4 cloves garlic chopped
pinch nutmeg
5 cups milk
two cans crab meat or other fish
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 large potatoes mashed

Heat the butter in a saucepan and gently cook the leeks and garlic till soft, add the nutmeg. If using the fish, I usually poach it in the milk and then add the leek mixture. If using canned crab, add crab and milk, season with pepper and stir in parsley and mashed potato. Cook until heated through. If you want it smooth like a bisque, use a hand blender or let cool a bit and use a blender.



Impossible Quiche

I was browsing through my recipe scrapbook and my eyes fell on my much used quiche recipe and the decision was instantaneous. This, in my opinion is ultimate comfort food, especially since it has that evil little ingredient....BACON. This quiche is NOT figure friendly, it has butter and cheddar cheese and cream (sometimes), but mushroom is a vegetable right? Since this quiche is pretty rich, you can only eat a little at a time, so I usually serve it with a light salad for dinner and then eat the rest for breakfast or brunch. This would make a great addition to a brunch table. The pastry is rich, so I've made a lighter version before using a store bought pie shell.

Mushroom and Bacon Quiche

Pastry:
250ml (1cup) cake flour
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 stick butter

Filling:
1/2 a package bacon (250 g)chopped
250 g white mushrooms sliced
3 eggs
375ml (1 1/2 cups) milk or cream (I like 1 cup milk & 1/2 cup cream)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup grated cheddar cheese or 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
3 ml mustard powder
3 ml salt
ground pepper to taste
1 tsp fresh herbs or 1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs

Pastry: Mix all ingredients in a food processor, press into base and sides of a 24 cm quiche dish
Filling: Fry bacon until crisp. Remove and keep aside. Saute mushrooms in bacon grease. Spoon Bacon and mushrooms onto base.
Beat eggs, milk/cream and lemon juice. Add cheese and seasoning and pour onto base.
Bake in a preheated oven at 160C/320F oven for 1 hour.



Progress: 24/61

Next up: My little guy is home sick, so I promised I'd make Caramel Apples, actually he's more interested in the Caramel sweets I make with the leftover caramel.
I might also see if I can find those monster drumsticks and make a Dino Drumstick???


* Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property.

From the Sea

This last week I made two meals with seafood. Firstly clams on the weekend and steamed fish last night.

Clam Pilaf

An easy one pot meal, using the ingredients I had in stock.

2 cans clams
1 medium onion
Tomatoes, I used 3 plum tomatoes, so 1 1/2 cups
1 cup raw rice
2 tbsp butter (or marg)
2 tbsp olive (or other) oil
about 1/2 tsp dried oreganum


1. Melt the butter and add oil and heat.
2. Add onion and saute until golden.
3. Add the clams, clam liquid/water, rice, chopped tomatoes and oreganum and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, about 30 minutes.
4. Season to taste and serve. (Note I didn't add salt as the clam juice is already salty)

Steamed Fish



I went to the market and picked up fresh haddock and a bunch of lemons and limes, so this was what I came up with:

fish fillets
lemons & limes
bay leaves
chilli
salt
olive oil
parsley

I lined a baking dish in aluminum foil and placed sliced limes, lemons, a few bay leaves and sliced red chilli as a "cushion" for the fish. I laid the fish on top and added a dash of salt and olive oil. I then placed more lemon and limes slices on top with some more chilli and a sprinkling of fresh parsley (from my garden).

I made two fillets and and didn't add the chiili to the one, so it was kid-friendly.

I then made an aluminum foil tent over the fish and pinched the sides to keep the steam inside. I then put the fish in the oven (I used the Broil/grill setting) and cooked it until the fish was opaque white and flaky. The steam method keeps the fish nice and moist and infuses it with flavour.